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Talking to the Dead

Talking to the Dead

by HarryBingham (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2012

    $5.88
Synopsis

A crime you'll always remember. A detective you'll never forget.

A young girl is found dead. A prostitute is murdered. And the strangest, youngest detective in the South Wales Major Crimes Unit is about to face the fiercest test of her short career.

A woman and her six-year-old daughter are killed with chilling brutality in a dingy flat. The only clue: the platinum bank card of a long-dead tycoon, found amidst the squalor.

DC Griffiths has already proved herself dedicated to the job, but there's another side to her she is less keen to reveal. Something to do with a mysterious two-year gap in her CV, her strange inability to cry - and a disconcerting familiarity with corpses.

Fiona is desperate to put the past behind her but as more gruesome killings follow, the case leads her back into those dark places in her own mind where another dead girl is waiting to be found...

Praise for the Fiona Griffiths mystery series:

'I have to say that in a lifetime of reading crime fiction I have never come across anyone quite like Fiona Griffiths . . . Read this book. Enjoy every syllable. Hold your breath, and tick off the weeks until the next one' Crime Fiction Lover

'Compelling...a new crime talent to treasure' Daily Mail

'Gritty, compelling...a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year' USA Today

'With Detective Constable Fiona 'Fi' Griffiths, Harry Bingham...finds a sweet spot in crime fiction...think Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander...[or] Lee Child's Jack Reacher... The writing is terrific' The Boston Globe

'This cleverly plotted police procedural introduces a likeable, maverick detective destined for a bestseller following' Choice

Fans of Angela Marsons, Peter James and Ann Cleeves will be gripped by the other titles in the Fiona Griffiths mystery series:
1. Talking to the Dead
2. Love Story, With Murders
3. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths
4. This Thing of Darkness
5. The Dead House
6. The Deepest Grave (coming soon!)

If you're looking for a crime thriller series to keep you hooked, then go no further: you've just found it.

** Each Fiona Griffiths thriller can be read as a standalone or in series order **

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 384
 Edition: Hardback
 Publisher: Orion
Published: 21 Jun 2012
ISBN 10: 1409140865
ISBN 13: 9781409140863
Book Overview: The first novel in a powerfully original new crime series featuring a young policewoman haunted by her own dark past.

Media Reviews

Praise for gripping, atmosphere Fiona Griffiths crime thriller series:

Chilling, atmospheric and so gripping it hurts. You won't read a better crime novel this year

-- MARK EDWARDS
Intriguing and compelling - I love Fiona Griffiths -- SHARON BOLTON
In a word - brilliant. One of the most enjoyable crime novels I've read in a while -- JAMES OSWALD
Compelling and claustrophic, Without a doubt, Fiona Griffiths is one of crime's most memorable heroines -- SARAH HILARY
One of the most interesting and complicated protagonists in current UK crime fiction. Truly unforgettable -- MICK HERRON
Fiona Griffiths is one of the most unusual and engaging characters in British crime fiction. Those who haven't yet encountered Fiona will be drawn into a beautifully crafted world -- SINEAD CROWLEY
Gripping...Fiona Griffiths kept me hooked to the last page and left me hungry for more -- RACHEL ABBOTT
This is on one level an orthodox, if expertly written, police procedural. But the character of Fiona lifts it to an altogether different, extraordinary level. She is childlike, brilliant, courageous and utterly loopy all at the same time - as well as devastatingly real and human and alone...She'll haunt you long after you finish this book, and send you scurrying to find what else Bingham has written. -- YORK PRESS
Fresh and compelling. The best thing coming out of this gem of a crime story is the promise of another -- NY DAILY NEWS
Compelling...a new crime talent to treasure -- DAILY MAIL
Bingham has gotten inside the mind of his clever, neurotic heroine so well as to make her seem entirely credible... An interesting, unusual and in some ways even moving crime novel. * LITERARY REVIEW *
This cleverly plotted police procedural introduces a likeable, maverick detective destined for a bestseller following. * CHOICE *
A cracking, well-executed debut. * PETERBROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH *
If you're looking for a punchy narrative based in good old Wales where Newport isn't Newport Rhode Island - for once - and seeking a multi layered protagonist in DC Fiona Griffiths then this is the book for you. I for one can't wait to see what Bingham comes up with next for Griffiths! * MILORAMBLES.COM *

The book is beautifully written. It's a tour de force, and for me the book of the year so far, without question. The plot is plausible without being predictable, and the dialogue is terse and smart as a tack. The book ends with one final, rather sweet, surprise, but as Fi's efforts to unravel the mystery gather pace, the standard elements of the action thriller are handled expertly.

Make no mistake - this is much, much more than a crime thriller. Talking to the Dead is first and foremost the tale of a courageous, vulnerable, slightly crazy, but compassionate and intelligent young woman who is trying to succeed in a pedestrian and procedure-dominated organisation.

* CRIME FICTION LOVER *
This is on one level an orthodox, if expertly written, police procedural. But the charactar of Fiona lifts it to an altogether different, extraordinary level. She is childlike, brilliant, courageous and utterly loopy all at the same time - as well as devastatingly real and human and alone....She'll haunt you long after you finish this book, and send you scurrying to find what else Bingham has written -- Stephen Lewis * YORK PRESS *
TALKING TO THE DEAD is an innovative book that tackles the crime novel from a different angle. That is to be applauded and I am sure that Griffiths is certainly a detective that will appeal to many readers of the crime genre. Exceptional. -- Chris Simmons * CRIMESQUAD *
The mystery-thriller genre is already so staffed with masterminds that it's hard to make room for yet another. But along comes a book like TALKING TO THE DEAD, by Harry Bingham, and suddenly an unadvertised opening is filled...has the feel of something fresh and compelling. The best thing coming out of this gem of a crime story is the promise of another. * NY DAILY NEWS *

Bingham renders a sympathetic heroine and a crackerjack mystery. Happily for readers, he's already
working on the next series installment.

* BOOKLIST *
The promising first installment in a new series, this book is so good it has you wondering who should play Fiona on the big screen. * KIRKUS REVIEWS *
Fans of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander will cotton to the heroine of British author Bingham's highly entertaining U.S. debut....An insightful look at a damaged unusual woman trying to fit...enhance the brisk, realistic plot. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *
With Detective Constable Fiona Fi Grffiths, Harry Bingham finds a sweet spot in crime fiction - a female protagonist with stunted emotions, a passion for protecting women (think Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander), outsider status (think Denise Mina's Paddy Meehan), sheer guts, and an unstoppable drive to follow her own instincts even when it means breaking every rule in the book (think Lee Childs's Jack Reacher) [...] The writing is terrific, just literary enough to make you catch your breath but not so eye-catching that it detracts from the storytelling * BOSTON GLOBE *
This is realism and social commentary immersed in a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year * USA Today *
Author Bio
Harry Bingham is a successful author as well as running The Writers' Workshop, an editorial consultancy for first-time writers, and organising the York Festival of Writing. He lives near Oxford.